H.D. Brown's Principles for Teaching Speaking Skills

H. D. BROWN’S PRINCIPLES FOR

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

Slides by Daniel Beck(aka SamuraiTheologian)

samuraitheologian@gmail.com

FLUENCY ACCURACY

Focus on both

depending on your objective

PRINCIPLE #1

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

&

Make sure your tasks have a linguistic (language-based)

objective, and seize the opportunity to help students

to perceive and use the building blocks of language.”

“

INTRINSICALLYMOTIVATING

PRINCIPLE #2

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

Provide

techniques

Appeal to students’ ultimate goals and interests, to their

need for knowledge, for status, for achieving

competence and autonomy … help them to see how the activity will benefit them.”

“

AUTHENTICLANGUAGE

Encourage the use of

in meaningful contexts

PRINCIPLE #3

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

It takes energy and creativity to devise authentic contexts and meaningful interaction,

but with the help of a storehouse of teacher resource

materials, it can be done.

”

“

APPROPRIATE FEEDBACK

Provide

and correction

PRINCIPLE #4

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

It is important that you take advantage of your knowledge

of English to inject the kinds of corrective feedback that are appropriate for the moment.”“

NATURALLINK

Capitalize on the

between speakingand listening

PRINCIPLE #5

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

The two skills can reinforce each other. Skills in producing

language are often initiated through comprehension.”“

OPPORTUNITIESTO INITIATE

Give students

oral communication

PRINCIPLE #6

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

Part of oral communication competence is the ability to

initiate conversations, to nominate topics, to ask

questions, to control conversations, and to change the subject.”

“

DEVELOPMENTOF SPEAKING STRATEGIES

Encourage the

PRINCIPLE #7

❋❋❋❋❋❋❋

Speaking Strategiesasking for clarification (what?)

asking someone to repeat something (pardon me?)

using fillers (uh, I mean) to get time to process

using conversation maintenance cues (uh-huh, right, yeah, OK, Hmm)

getting someone’s attention (hey, say, so)

paraphrasing for structures one can’t produce

appealing for assistance from the interlocutor

using formulaic expressions

using mime and non-verbal expressions

Principles for Teaching Speaking Skills

1. Focus on both fluency and accuracy

2. Provide intrinsically motivating techniques

3. Encourage the use of authentic language

4. Provide appropriate feedback and correction

5. Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening

6. Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication

7. Encourage the development of speaking strategies

H. D. BROWN’S PRINCIPLES FOR

TEACHING SPEAKING SKILLS

Slides by Daniel Beck(aka SamuraiTheologian)

samuraitheologian@gmail.com